7 May 2010

Shahrar Ali speaks at declaration for Brent Central on morning of Friday 7 May 2010 and televised in part (photo by Rob Dyke):

"I'd like to thank the 668 voters of Brent Central for putting their faith in me and the Green Party at this fiercely contested election. I also wish to thank my campaign team, and especially Alex for expriencing some of the sleep deprivation with me."

"Finally, Green voters, stick with us! We will be back for more. More Brighton Pavillions up and down the country alike . . . in the very near future. Because true politics requires nothing less!"

This picture shows the declaration for Brent North which took place just before Brent Central. Martin is standing on the left with thousands of ballot papers piled on the table in the foreground (photo by S Ali).

In the Council elections, the Greens stood maximum numbers in 20 wards and many of our candidates clocked up 300, 400, 500 or even 600+ votes in their wards. Labour made significant gains at the expense of both Lib Dems in the south and Tories in the north of the borough.

and in the north of the borough, in the wards of the parliamentary candidates:Shahrar Ali (Welsh Harp): 430Martin Francis (Barnhill): 421

Once it became known that the BNP were standing in Fryent, our candidates for that and neighbouring wards countersigned a statement and we put out an additional leaflet (coordinated by Martin) in order to beat them, too.

The formidable Council election counting operation was completed at around midnight on Friday, more than 24 hours after the ballot closed. The full General election and Council results for Brent are posted on the Council website here.

6 May 2010

News from CochabambaReport-back from the People's World Conference on Climate Change and

the Rights of Mother Earth, Cochabamba, Bolivia, 20 - 22 April

Thousands of activists from around the world took part in the People’s World Conference on Climate Change called by President Evo Morales of Bolivia after the failure of the Copenhagen talks. The conference brought together scientists, trade unionists, NGO’s and social movements to look for ways to build an alternative grassroots movement to protect the planet and fight for climate justice.

Mary Brodbin from Campaign Against Climate Change and Brent trade unionist Roger Cox took part and will report on what it achieved.

2 May 2010

Last night's meeting about the closure of Kilburn College was crowded, angry and militant. Lecturers, students and local residents came together to denouce the closure plans and put forward ideas for active resistance. The main political party candidates for Hampstead and Kilburn spoke platitudes from the platform and soon disappeared.

Speaking from the floor, Peter Murry, an ex-lecturer at Kilburn and a council candidate for the Brent Kilburn ward spoke passionately of this attack on local people who face challenges such as learning English and getting into employment. He outlined how further education could transform their lives and said that the removal of their access to education was a crime. He supported calls for non-violent direct action and remarked that such tactics were a proud Green Party tradition. He called for further education colleges to be brought back under local authority control.

Bea Campbell, Green Party parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, spoke about how further education had improved her parents' life chances and suggested that another dimension to the campaign should be a legal route. She urged the campaign to seek legal assistance to use the recent Equalities legislation to show that the community had not been properly consulted on the proposals, (now a statutory requirement).

Students from the ethnic minority communites spoke movingly of their attachment to their local college and the difference it had made and was making in their lives. There were accounts of the shock they had felt when the announcement was made and their feelings of being completed disregarded by the college governors.

A large number of people, including Green Party members, volunteered to be part of a delegation to the college governors, to try and persuade then to reverse their decision.

The views expressed on this blog are those of the poster and not necessarily shared by Brent Green Party. Promoted by Martin Francis on behalf of Shahrar Ali and Scott Bartle, all of Brent Green Party, c/o 23 Saltcroft Close, Wembley, Middlesex HA9 9JJ